I moved to Texas from India when I was 8 years old. I was a complete tomboy and spent all my time outdoors. I played outside, I read outside, I swam, I hiked, I climbed trees – you name it. If the activity involved me being outside and in the sun, I was there.

I had no idea what allergies even were. I was 11 at the time, and had never experienced this problem my entire time I lived in India. Yet just 2-3 years after I set foot in the South, my body decided to repel the main thing I loved the most – being outdoors. I was forced to get allergy skin tests done (ouch!), and had to be put on allergy shots. For 9 years I was getting a shot every 2 weeks. Talk about a pain in the ass!! I finally gave up my sophomore year in college when a) I was seeing no results and b) going to the campus clinic every 2 weeks to get a shot was getting really really annoying.

When I moved to the northeast (it’ll be 7 years this fall), I got MAJOR relief from allergies. Probably because I lived in Brooklyn and wasn’t around too many trees and stuff, but the last few years, allergies haven’t been too bad. Yes I get them, but I can manage them with medication 🙂

They say that when you catch a cold or cough when you’re prego – you suffer more than you would if you weren’t prego. As if you’re not feeling enough discomfort at times, you’re gonna feel like shit more and longer than usual. Awesome! With the way the allergy season has been so far these past few weeks, needless to say – I’m freaking miserable. All the sources are saying that due to the insanely heavy snowfall this winter, there’s a tremendous amount of tree pollen and mold that’s lingering. Today, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday – the pollen count is just sitting at HIGH, which is not reassuring to me.

New Jersey Pollen Count

I can take certain medication (thank goodness), but I’m really trying not to. I bought other alternatives to medicine – saline spray, allergy eye drops, and cough drops (becuase yes, now I’m coughing nonstop and apparently my body wants to continue to punish me in other ways besides constantly sneezing and blowing my nose and having itchy eyes). I also bought the neti-pot, and I’m scared to try it, but I know it may help and give me some relief so I’ll have to suck it up and do it. Has anyone tried that thing? Doesn’t it feel gross? Ick.

Let’s hope this allergy season passes soon and I can enjoy the summer!!